


only one life can't be enough

by she_who_the_river_could_not_hold



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drabble Collection, F/M, rebellion AU, references to violence, there is no linear story here WHOOPS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-17 22:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17569421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold/pseuds/she_who_the_river_could_not_hold
Summary: Max Mayfield hadn’t meant to get herself involved in the rebellion. But she didn’t have much of a choice after a soldier yelled at her to salute the President when he walked by and she had responded that it was “rather presumptuous to assume she had any respect for their dictator.”Luckily, there’s a quick-thinking teenage boy next to her who helps her escape imprisonment. His name is Lucas Sinclair, and he introduces her to an underground resistance. It’s comprised of a people of all ages but all with one goal, to return the rights of the people back to them. There are constant warnings about forming attachments but she and Lucas can’t help the immediate connection they have. Falling in love in the middle of a revolution is a dangerous game to play, but it’s one more thing worth fighting for.[a collection of drabbles from Tumblr]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A collection of prompts/drabbles that I'm transferring from Tumblr - all in a universe that I created where Lucas and Max are rebels against an oppressive government. They're vaguely in order in this, but there isn't an actual storyline, they operate as individual drabbles. 
> 
> Song title is from "No Rest for the Wicked" by Lykke Li.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: ”YOU KNOW, YOU LOOK PRETTY HOT IN LEATHER” LUMAX REBELS AU!!

The bunker was unusually warm, even for it being the first week of September. The lack of air flow made it stifling during the day and only somewhat more bearable at night.

But that didn’t mean there was any time for a break. After all, revolutions don’t wait for anyone.

The first supply run of the month had just returned a bit ago and as per routine, the rebels had gathered together to help distribute the boxes, put them away, and in general make the process go as quickly as possible. It’d allow Steve to get the van back out and away quicker and not risk missing curfew. Crucial considering he had a warrant for his arrest that had been posted for over a year now.

Max was currently attempting to grapple with a huge box labeled ‘GAS MASKS.’ She hissed as it shifted down against her, scraping her hip as it made its way down towards the floor.

“Need a hand?”

“I guess I do,” she grumbled, agreeing to the assistance before completely figuring out who was going to be lending her some help.

However she had nothing to worry about since it was Lucas Sinclair’s smiling face that appeared in her line of sight and she returned it with one of her own. He helped balance out the weight of the box and the two began to walk sideways towards the back of the bunker. They’d be heading out for a protest in a couple days, Max’s first, and there was a steady pile of supplies specifically for that in one of their back storage rooms.

She’d only been hiding out here for a week so far, but she already felt so much more useful than she had beforehand. Back home she’d been an inconvenience. A worry for her mother who feared for her sarcastic, risky teenager. Nuisance would be the only tame word to describe how her step-father and step-brother had seen her. But she hadn’t had any intention of falling in line with this new dictatorship that had taken control of their country.

Which had been why she had skateboarded to that protest the other week randomly. Why she hadn’t even thought before opening her mouth to snap at the militant solider who had confronted her.

And it was why she currently struggling against her initial attraction,  _nay — crush_ , on one Lucas Sinclair. The fellow teenager who had saved her from being arrested and introduced her to the (literal and figurative) underground resistance.

There was a bit of silence between them as they made their way down the hall, and Max used the excuse to let her eyes drift back over to him.

So maybe there was a rule that people couldn’t date in the resistance. It didn’t mean she couldn’t look.

He noticed her gaze and even in the dim lighting she could see the blush grow across his cheeks and he bit down on the smile that was sneaking onto his face.

Soon enough they reached the back of the hall, getting only through the casual pleasantries of asking about if she was ready for the protest (she was) and if she was nervous (she wouldn’t admit it). Bumping the door open with his shoulder, Lucas and Max made their way into the room where they needed to drop the box off.

Dustin was standing in the center of the room, sorting the giant pile into more manageable sections. He had been one of the first people Max had gotten to meet when she agreed to join them. They’d developed a fun banter, very much one like siblings, but Max wasn’t as close to him as she hoped she could be. She knew he was one of Lucas’ best friends and she hoped that she’d be able to spread out her circle of friends to include him.

“Took you guys long enough,” he remarked, hardly looking up from his task.

“Shut the hell up Henderson,” Lucas responded good-naturedly. “Where do you want the gas masks?”

Dustin pointed to his left, so Max and Lucas crab-walked their way over towards it before unceremoniously dropping it onto the ground. Max shoved her hands into her shorts pockets, trying to figure out an excuse to stay with the guys. But two people was clearly all they needed and she also wanted to talk with Steve about maybe helping drive for the next run.

But that meant leaving Lucas and she hadn’t seen him much the past two days.

As she made her towards the door though, slowly and awkwardly as the two boys joked with each other, she tried to think of something flirty to say as way of goodbye.

Flirty?

She meant funny.

_Definitely funny._

“Oh by the way Lucas,” she called out, making his head shoot up towards her. The look of expectancy on his face made her nerves dance in an absolute flurry of panic and giddiness.

“You know, you look pretty hot in leather.”

Her voice came out much more nonchalant than she would have guessed. Thankfully masking the screaming in her brain because  _what the hell did she just say??_

Lucas however straightened himself up in pride, somehow also looking sheepishly down at the leather jacket he was wearing. He began to stutter something out, and full panic took over Max’s mind and she reverted back to her usual joking self to cover up her slip up.

“No, literally. You might want to take off your jacket, it’s probably way too hot to be wearing that inside. You look like you might want to get some water or a bandana to help with the sweat,” she scrambled to say, able to feel her face burning in embarrassment as she did her best to backtrack on her initial compliment.

_Yes he looked extremely attractive in that jacket but it didn’t mean she should tell him that. At least not yet. Also overheating doesn’t help anyone so it wasn’t like she was completely wrong._

With a squeak of a goodbye, she spun on her feel and hurried back out into the hall. She didn’t even wait for a response.

Slamming the door behind her, she leaned up against and let out a deep breath. She could barely hear Dustin saying something, and she couldn’t tell what he said or how Lucas said in return. But she could only hope that she hadn’t come across as a completely lovestruck moron.

Making her back towards the loading dock area, she tried to lecture herself.

Okay, no more hitting on Lucas.

_At least… maybe until after the protest._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: LUMAX + "I NEED A HAIRDRYER, A FORK, AND A LITTLE BIT OF GLUE"

Max slams her hands onto the rickety wooden table, leaning in towards Lucas.

“I need a hairdryer, a fork, and a little bit of glue.”

He doesn’t even look up at her, ignoring her dramatic arrival and odd request. 

“Today’s a food run Mayfield,” he replied without looking up from the clipboard in his hands. “I can only help you if you want more cereal, or are craving a special type of bread that we don’t have. We still don’t have a refrigerator so frozen food is still out, as well as milk.”

Max purses her lips and straightens herself up, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

“Well, when’s the next supply run then?”

“Week, week and a half probably.”

At his response, she lets out a groan. Realizing that she was being serious, Lucas finally looked up at her curiously.

“Alright Mayfield, I’ll bite. Why do you need those items and why the hurry?”

“I’m not telling you,” Max scoffed with a roll of her eyes. “You’re not going to help me so I’m not going to explain myself to you.”

It was Lucas’ turn to roll his eyes. 

It had been a month since he had saved Max from being arrested, but he still sometimes couldn’t believe how stubborn she was.

_It had also been a month of him ignoring how cute she looked when she got into one of her stubborn streaks, her nose all scrunched up and her impressively expressive eyebrows furrowed._

Lucas places the clipboard down on the table next to the list of the map with the route they’d be taking this time. One of Hopper’s rules, never use the same route twice within a span of two months. This one was going to be a brand new route, one they hadn’t tried before, and everything was being done to make sure nothing went wrong.

“You know today’s a new route right?”

Max nodded slowly, not sure what he was getting at.

“Well what if the government gets us this time? What if I don’t come back? I’ll never get to know what you need those items for.” There’s a twinkle in his eye as he tries convince her, and even though she knows he’s joking, she can’t help but give him a not-so-soft punch to the arm.

“Hey no joking about shit like that,” she reprimanded him. “That’s way too risky.”

He laughed, but couldn’t help noticing the real concern that grew in her eyes when he mentioned the threat they faced every time they did a run or a protest. The sight made a warmth slowly spread through him, at the idea that she was worried about him. Which was silly, of course she would worry, they’re friends. But sometimes at late night meetings their arms end up resting against each other. Every time they have to race from a spot where they’ve scrawled a message about the resistance on the wall, their hands end up intertwined as they pull each other to safety, whoops and shouts of adrenaline coming out muffled from the bandanas across their mouths. How when the news came that Hopper’s young daughter had been denied the government sanctioned treatment she needed, how Max had rested her head on his shoulder and he had been able to feel her hot tears through his loose t-shirt.

So maybe she worried because they were just friends, but maybe she worried for something more.

His thoughts were broken by her eyes suddenly lighting up with an idea.

Uh oh.

“You guys should let me drive this time!”

Oh no.

“Max,” Lucas started warningly.

She cut him off though.

“You haven’t given me a chance to prove myself. I’ve done well out in the field but let me really do something. Let me drive this time. I could be your Zoomer.”

“We - what? Max we don’t have a Zoomer what are you talking about, they’re just drivers.”

She tosses her long red hair defiantly over her shoulder before staring him down, her ocean-blue eyes narrowing.

“Come on Sinclair. I know I can do this. Let me prove myself.”

He sighs, knowing that look all too well. There’s no way they’ll be able to talk her out of it.

Late that night when the supply run comes back, everyone feels like they’re on a high. It’s their biggest supply run in weeks and they had nearly gotten caught this time, a frightening moment when a silver military truck had stopped next to theirs. When it had eventually left them alone, giving them only a brief lecture about getting ready to head back to their homes before curfew, the party quickly finished their run and sped off.

And Max was finally able to get people to call her Zoomer.

After passing out the rations and everyone had spread back out, most to go catch up on sleep before another long day, the main mess hall had been left with just Lucas and Max.

Clapping her on her back, Lucas swung himself onto the chair next to her, his legs straddling it while he rested his arms on the back of it.

“Okay now that you’ve proven you can be our Zoomer, and we got a shit ton of food, I think you owe me an explanation.”

She gives him a wide-eyed expression, all together too innocent for someone as mischievous as her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied, her voice doing that thing she does when she’s telling a particularly bad lie.

He frowns, his foot tapping impatiently on the cement floor.

“That weird list of things you needed earlier. What the hell was it all for?”

She lets out a giggle, shoving the last box of rice on its self, before she leans down to his level. Her freckles seem to be standing out even more than normal under the fluorescent lights and Lucas feels himself being pulled closer to her.

“You’ll just have to wait for the next supply run to find out,” she whispers devilishly to him before turning on her feel to leave for her bunk area.

He curses under his breath and rests his forehead on the chair.

He’s never going to figure her out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: LUMAX + "I'LL EITHER KISS YOUR OR KILL YOU BEFORE THE NIGHT ENDS. I'M NOT SURE YET." "WELL I'M NOT SURE WHICH WOULD BE WORSE."

Max wasn’t sure why they were arguing. It seemed ridiculous yet here they were.

Lucas was silently packing together a bag, shoving in lighters and bricks, the last of their supplies. He pulls a bandana from the pile and ties it around his neck, resolutely not looking in her direction.

“Hey,” she hisses, making sure that Steve isn’t looking. “What the hell is your deal?”

Lucas pointedly raises his eyebrows but doesn’t look up.

With a groan, Max returns to wrapping the cables together. Maybe she did know why he was acting so ridiculous. Maybe it had to do with their impromptu make out session the other day that had happened in the heat of the moment, a moment of their weaknesses coming to light amidst a night of celebration. A radio station had managed to get their message out about their next protest, successfully transmitting their message to thousands of people and going offline before being able to be traced.

A couple of shots of fire whiskey had lead from one thing to another, and before she knew it she and Lucas had stumbled into an empty room, fiercely trying to convey the passion they had been developing since the day they had first met.

The only problem of course, was that they weren’t supposed to be together.

Hopper, the man in charge of the resistance group, had a set of strict rules and a subsection under “don’t be stupid” was “don’t date people in the party.”

It was an incredibly understandable rule. You didn’t want to form attachments that could distract you or that could disrupt the goals of the resistance. Max got it. She really did. But the second Lucas had first grabbed her hand in the crowd she had felt the spark between them. On their first mission when she had proven herself as a driver, the pull between them had become stronger. They worked amazingly as a team and the fiery passion within Lucas only continued to inspire Max.

But now they were here, Lucas refusing to talk to her and about to head out to a protest.

He began to walk towards one of the Jeeps and Max took the chance.

Quickly swinging her gun strap around her back, she jogged to catch up and grabbed his shoulder. Pulling him towards her, she gave him a hard look.

“If this is because of what happened at the party, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have done it if I thought it would ruin things between us,” she said in a low whisper.

Lucas shifted his weight, glancing back over at Dustin and Steve who were loading the jeep. When he noted that they weren’t paying attention, he leaned in close to her.

“I’ll either kiss your or kill you before the night ends. I’m not sure yet.”

There’s a hint of a growl in his voice but he can’t mask the teasing in his tone and Max bites her lip to hide her laughter. Her eyes catch Dustin’s who has started to turn around and is giving the two of them and odd look.

“Well I’m not sure which would be worse,” she replied in a louder voice, nudging him so that he realized they were being watched. Lucas turns and glances behind him, sees the two, and then looks back at her.

“I’m not done being mad at you yet,” is all he says, but there’s a subtle twinkle to his eyes. “You know I’m a rule follower and this is Hopper’s biggest rule.”

“Yeah, well, they don’t call me Mad Max for nothing,” Max teased back, giving him a hip check as she then continues on to the Jeep. She can’t stop the smile that’s growing on her face. There were plenty of reasons for the resistance to be successful, but there was definitely also the bonus of being able to kiss Lucas as much as she wants when this is all over.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "ONE SMALL KISS, PULLING AWAY FOR AN INSTANT, THEN DEVOURING EACH OTHER" FOR LUMAX

The ride back to the bunker was a quiet one.

It always was after the death of a member of the rebellion. 

While the silence hung about others as they slowly spread out back at the base, it didn’t stay with two teenagers for long.

Lucas stormed after Max, who was just shy of moving from speed-walking to almost an outright jog to get away from him. Her rubber-soled boots squeak angrily against the cement as his heavier combat boots hit harder not far from behind. There’s an urgency and a tension between them that is almost palpable, causing other party members to move out of the way and cast intrigued expressions at each other.

Max almost makes it back to her room before Lucas reaches out and grasps her hand. She yanks it out and without turning, says roughly, “We can talk in my room.”

When her door slams shut, there’s a moment of silence filled only with heavy breathing. But then Lucas breaks the silence.

“What the fuck were you doing back there?”

She sullenly turns around, her arms crossed defiantly across her chest. Ash streaks across her face, disrupted by tear trails that had dripped down at some point on the ride back.

“Max, you can’t just run back into a building when it’s about to explode! That type of shit could get you killed — it could have been you, and not just Bob, that we’re mourning!” Lucas is doing his best to not shout but the emotions running through him are too strong. “You need to think.”

“I did think,” Max snapped. “I thought that I didn’t want to let that little girl die, no matter what side her family was on. We didn’t know she would be there, I wasn’t going to take on that guilt.”

While they’ve been arguing, the two have subconsciously been moving closer to each other. Lucas isn’t much taller than Max, her head just tilted back enough that they match glare for glare. The bandana he had been wearing earlier is still around his neck, just under his chin. They both reek of gunpowder and smoke. 

“That’s a risk you can’t take Max! What the hell are we supposed to do anytime someone comes into the crosshairs? We can’t guarantee that it won’t happen and you can’t guarantee you’ll make it out in time again! You have to use your brain,” he exclaimed angrily, his arms thrown up in frustration. 

“I  _can’t_  be like him!” Max raged back, now inches from his face, her eyes spitting fire despite the a tremor to her voice now.

“You will never be him,” Lucas swore angrily. His voice was beginning to shake now too though. 

“I just can’t lose you!”

He almost shouts it, desperately and with a crack as the weight of that last hour finally comes crashing down. Of yelling out to her as she had wrenched her hand out of his to run back. Being pulled back by Hopper as he had tried to follow her. Watching her sprint back out holding the child in her arms, mere seconds before the blast knocked them to the ground at the tires of the van. 

The words have hardly left his mouth though when Max pushes herself up onto her tiptoes and pulls his head down and kisses him.

For as fast as her movement is, the kiss is hesitant. Gentle, an apology. A question mark of if they’re going to be okay.

When she pulls back it’s just barely, a small space left between them. She has one hand on the back of his neck, holding herself up, and one gently on his cheek. They stare at each other for a beat before he closes the gap between them again. 

This kiss is much stronger, fiercer. 

There’s an urgency and an acknowledgement that they almost didn’t make it to here. That with this reality they’re in there comes a risk of arrest or even death. His hands in her hair are for every close call, her nose bumping affectionately into his for each night they’ve ducked into alleys away from guards who have their faces burned into their minds next to the price on their heads.

When they finally break for oxygen with a gasp, they cling to each other in an embrace. 

They know the rules. They know a romance during this time only will complicate things, create a new level of danger.

But today has proven to them that it’s worth it. They’re worth living for.


End file.
